The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Oganga, the Giver and Taker of Life

Clocking in at 13 words this Young Indy adventure surely has one of the longest titles I have ever encountered.

Indy and Remy are still in Africa, and thanks to Indy's brazen attitude in the battlefield he's promoted to Captain before being given an important mission where he must secure delivery of a cache of machine guns. In order to do this he and his men must march through the Congo, where all but a couple of them die of jungle disease. After a middle segment that echoes the African Queen in more ways than one they are rescued by Doctor Albert Schweitzer.

But the Doctor is German, and is soon kicked out of Africa despite all of the good work he has done.

OtGaToL (how about that for an acronym?) is all about Melodrama and features very little action. Once the opening battle is over it's all talk, talk and talk all the way to the end. If I wanted a soap opera I'd watch Days of Our Lives.

Actually, it isnt bad. Its just not Indiana Jones. For some reason when I saw the video, it lacked the touch of the movies. But it is okay if you really want to see an Indy movie, but know the old ones by heart. Just remember: it is a boiled down affair.

What's wonderful about this is the convincing dissolving of race barriers between black and white in Africa. It's appropriate to a story whose arc peaks with Albert Schweitzer.

In the wake of a film like Selma, this episode may seem a bit tame and dated. For its time, 1999, it was as positive as any film on race relations I can think of.

The other IMDb reviews here are useful--but only by fans, not by writers.

Darabont and Tattersall's achievements shine most here. Sean Flanery remains consistently believable as young Indy.